(The Timeless Ocean, Leonardo’s POV)
For a while, everyone aboard the flagship looked confused on what to do next, as they failed to decode the mystery of this floating island.
"Well, we have established that it disappears for anyone who gets too close to it. And that pulling back doesn’t work, for once it disappears for you, you can’t see it no matter how far back you go," Mickey said, rubbing his forehead in frustration while pacing across the deck.
Anderson scratched his head, staring into the pale horizon that looked no different from a blank sheet of steel. "Yeah, but you’re forgetting Chuck," he said. "He saw the floating island during the last expedition, and it disappeared for him then. Yet now, it’s reappeared for him again. He can still see it... which means there’s a time limit attached to whatever spell is affecting us right now."
The crew exchanged uneasy glances. The fact that Chuck could still see the island made the situation even stranger.
They called for him, and soon enough, Chuck climbed up the steps to the command deck, his face red from both nervousness and salt-laden wind.
"Commander?" he asked, stopping before the two Monarchs.
"Can you still see the island?" Anderson asked, voice steady yet faintly curious.
Chuck nodded quickly. "Yes, sir. Same as before. Right there, above the mist line. Bright as the sun."
Mickey folded his arms, narrowing his eyes as if trying to glimpse through the illusion himself. "And how long has it been since your last expedition?"
Chuck scratched his neck, thinking. "Almost ninety five days, sir. Maybe a bit more. I lose track of time while in the sea ...."
That answer didn’t satisfy anyone.
"So the spell resets," Anderson muttered to himself. "Once you lose sight of it, it locks you out for a fixed duration, but eventually you regain the ability. Which means..."
"Which means," Mickey interrupted, "whoever made this place didn’t want visitors, but maybe friends and family could enter?"
The remark drew murmurs from the sailors nearby, as Anderson remained silent for a few seconds, his mind turning over the pieces.
No one could tell with certainty as to what the mystery behind this giant floating island was, however, everyone began to make a plausible theory in their own heads regardless.
Leonardo listened quietly from the side, his eyes flicking between the two Commanders and the faint shimmer of gold still visible in the far distance, as the crew’s confusion only deepened his own thoughts.
’Maybe only fated people can see it after a certain point?
Maybe I’ll be able to see it even after I get too close?’
He thought, as he tightened his grip on the railing, the idea leaving a strange chill down his spine.
"Commander," Leonardo called suddenly, stepping forward, as Anderson turned to him at once, straightening.
"Yes, young lord?"
"I want to go closer," Leonardo said, his tone calm but filled with conviction. "I want to see the point where it disappears for myself."
The deck fell silent. Even the sounds of uncertain footsteps stopping briefly, as Mickey blinked at him in disbelief.
"You want to do what?"
He asked, as Leonardo raised his hands in self defence.
"I know it sounds reckless, but I need to see how it happens. Maybe the effect won’t work on me."
Leonardo suggested, as Anderson frowned deeply at the proposal.
"That’s not a risk we can take, Young Lord. Your uncle gave us strict orders to ensure your safety. So, if something goes wrong—"
"Then it’s my responsibility," Leonardo interrupted. "Uncle sent me on this expedition for a reason. He said I have a special sight that others don’t.
And If that’s true, then I might be able to see what none of you can."
Anderson hesitated, caught between duty and logic, as Mickey threw his hands in the air.
"The young lord’s got guts, we need to give him that, but it’s not just his neck on the line here, it’s ours too.
So we need to think this through for sure...."
He said to Anderson, who rubbed his chin in contemplation.
"Sometimes, the only way to understand a mystery is to step into it. I’ll take a small unit. One row boat, two soldiers. Nothing more..... If you’re afraid about my safety, follow behind me.
If the island disappears for me too, I’ll retreat immediately, if not, keep following me, I guess—"
Leonardo pressed, as Anderson looked at him for a long time, before letting out a deep sigh.
*Sigh*
"Fine," he said at last, though his voice came slow.
"You’ll take one row boat unit and stay in constant communication. The moment anything feels wrong, you pull back immediately. Understood?"
He instructed, as Leonardo nodded firmly.
Minutes later, a lightweight evacuation row boat was prepared and lowered into the water, with two soldiers to man it joining him, as they took up the oars and began rowing.
*Slurrr*
*Slurrr*
The boat began to make its way towards the island, as Mickey and Anderson followed from above, hovering in the air to watch from a close distance, their senses alert to scan for any and all signs of danger.
"Alright," Anderson said over the communicator. "Maintain heading toward the forward scout ship, the island should disappear for you as soon as you cross its rear end."
"Understood, Commander," Leonardo replied, as the row boat continued to glide smoothly over the calm waves.
The Timeless Ocean stretched endlessly ahead, still and deceptive, while the golden glow of the floating island kept growing stronger with each passing second.
"Two kilometers..." one of the soldiers on the row boat reported softly. "500 meters... One hundred..."
They kept approaching, until exactly at the 0 meters mark, when the tip of the row boat crossed the backend of the forward scout ship, the floating island disappeared from sight for the two soldiers, as the massive island was replaced by the Twilight Sky in their visions.
"What?"
"Just where did it go?"
The soldiers blinked, their expressions turning confused.
"Commander," one of them said, voice rising, "I think something’s interfering with—"
But before he could finish, a sharp flash burst before their eyes.
*SHINE*
Leonardo felt the world lurch around him, as the sound of the ocean disappeared from his ears, and the row boat faded out from around him.
The soldiers froze where they were, eyes wide, unable to comprehend what they had just seen.
One moment Leonardo had been there, sitting calmly between them, and the next, the seat was empty, his presence erased as if he had never existed.
"Commander! Commander, he’s gone!" one of them shouted through the communicator, his voice cracking.
Above, Anderson and Mickey had seen it too— the sudden disappearance, the brief flash of blinding light, and then nothing.
"What in the hell just happened?" Mickey muttered, his voice low but shaken. "Where the fuck is the Shadow Dragon’s nephew?"
He asked, as his body began to tremble from fear.
"Fucked! That’s what we will be, if the Shadow Dragon comes here and we haven’t found his nephew....
FUCK, I knew this was a bad idea...."
Anderson began, however, he too could not complete the sentence, as just the thought of the Shadow Dragon coming here and losing control over his killing intent made him quake in his boots.